spread from the south to the north. See the allegory quoted in
_J.R.A.S._ 1911, p. 800.]
[Footnote 566: Thus Ramanuja says (Sri Bhashya, II. 2. 43) that the
Vedanta Sutras do not refute the Sankhya and Yoga but merely certain
erroneous views as to Brahman not being the self.]
[Footnote 567: It has been described as the earliest of the Vishnuite
Churches and it would be so if we could be sure that the existence of
the doctrine called Dvaitadvaita was equivalent to the existence of
the sect. But Bhandarkar has shown some reason for thinking that
Nimbaditya lived after Ramanuja. It must be admitted that the worship
of Radha and the doctrine of self-surrender or prapatti, both found in
the Dasasloki, are probably late.]
[Footnote 568: See Grierson in _E.R.E._ vol. II. p. 457.]
[Footnote 569: The Church of the Nimavats is also called
Sanakadi-sampradaya because it professes to derive its doctrine from
Sanaka and his brethren who taught Narada, who taught Nimbarka. At
least one sub-sect founded by Harivamsa (born 1559) adopts a doctrine
analogous to Saktism and worships Radha as the manifestation of
Krishna's energy.]
[Footnote 570: Called the Dasasloki. It is translated in Bhandarkar's
_Vaishn and Saivism_, pp. 63-5.]
[Footnote 571: Also spelt Alvar and Azhvar. The Tamil pronunciation of
this difficult letter varies in different districts. The word
apparently means one who is drowned or immersed in the divine love.
Cf. _Azhi_, the deep sea; _Azhal_, being deep or being immersed.]
[Footnote 572: An educated Vaishnava told me at Srirangam that devas
and saints receive the same homage.]
[Footnote 573: It is possible that the poems attributed to Namm'arvar
and other saints are really later compositions. See _Epig. Ind_. vol.
VIII. p. 294.]
[Footnote 574: XI. 5. 38-40.]
[Footnote 575: Bhandarkar (_Vaishn. and Saivism_, p. 50) thinks it
probable that Kulasekhara, one of the middle Arvars, lived about
1130. But the argument is not conclusive and it seems to me improbable
that he lived after Nathamuni.]
[Footnote 576: The first called Mudal-Ayiram consists of nine hymns
ascribed to various saints such as Periyarvar and Andal. The second
and third each consist of a single work the Periya-tiru-mori and the
Tiru-vay-mori ascribed to Tiru-mangai and Namm'arvar respectively.
The fourth part or Iyar-pa is like the first a miscellany containing
further compositions by these two as well as by others.]
[Footnote 577: Nityanusandhanam series: edited with Telugu paraphrase
and English translation by M.B. Srinivasa Aiyangar, Madras, 1898.]
[Footnote 578: The best known is the Guru-parampara-prabhavam of
Brahmatantra-svatantra-swami. For an English account of these doctors
see T. Rajagopala Chariar, _The Vaishnavite Reformers of India_,
Madras, 1909.]
[Footnote 579: Agamapramanya. He also wrote a well-known hymn called
Alavandar-Stotram and a philosophical treatise called Siddhi-traya.]
[Footnote 580: He states himself that he followed Boddhayana, a
commentator on the Sutras of unknown date but anterior to Sankara. He
quotes several other commentators particularly Dramida, so that his
school must have had a long line of teachers.]
[Footnote 581: See _Gazetteer of India_, vol. XXIII. s.v. There is a
Kanarese account of his life called Dibya-caritra. For his life and
teaching see also Bhandarkar in _Berichte VIIth Int. Orient.
Congress_, 1886, pp. 101 ff. Lives in English have been published at
Madras by Alkondaville Govindacarya (1906) and Krishnaswami Aiyangar
(? 1909).]
[Footnote 582: He also wrote the Vedartha Sangraha, Vedartha Pradipa,
Vedanta Sara and a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita.]
[Footnote 583: _S.B.E._ XLVIII. p. 3.]
[Footnote 584: II. 2. 36-39.]
[Footnote 585: II. 2. 43 _ad fin._]
[Footnote 586: Ramanuja's introduction to the Bhagavad-gita is more
ornate but does not go much further in doctrine than the passage here
quoted.]
[Footnote 587: This fivefold manifestation of the deity is a
characteristic Pancaratra doctrine. See Schrader, _Int._ pp. 25, 51
and _Sri Bhashya_, II. 242.]
[Footnote 588: See Br. Ar. Up III. 7. The Sri Vaishnavas attach great
importance to this chapter.]
[Footnote 589: Only relatively northern and southern. Neither flourish
in what we call northern India.]
[Footnote 590: Hence the two doctrines are called markata-nyaya and
marjara-nyaya, monkey theory and cat theory. The latter gave rise to
the dangerous doctrine of Doshabhogya, that God enjoys sin, since it
gives a larger scope for the display of His grace. Cf. Oscar Wilde in
_De Profundis_, "Christ, through some divine instinct in him, seems to
have always loved the sinner as being the nearest possible approach to
perfection in man.... In a manner not yet understood of the world, he
regarded sin and suffering as being in themselves beautiful holy
things and modes of perfection.... Christ, had he been asked, would
have said--I feel quite certain about it--that the moment the prodigal
son fell on his knees and wept, he made his having wasted his
substance with harlots, his swine herding and hungering for the husks
they ate beautiful and holy moments in his life."]
[Footnote 591: Also called Venkatanatha. For some rather elaborate
studies in the history of the Sri-Vaishnavas see V. Rangacharis'
articles in _J. Bombay R.A.S._ 1915 and 1916 and _J. Mythic Society_,
1917, Nos. 2 ff.]
[Footnote 592: Prapatti and acaryabhimana.--The word _prapatti_ seems
not to occur in the Sri Bhashya and it is clear that Ramanuja's
temperament was inclined to active and intelligent devotion. But
_prapatti_ is said to have been taught by Nathamuni and Sathagopa
(Rajagopala Chariar, _Vaishnavite Reformers_, p. 6). The word means
literally _approaching._]
[Footnote 593: The Artha-pancaka and Tattva-traya are the best known.
See text and translation of the first in _J.R.A.S._ 1910, pp.
565-607.]
[Footnote 594: Ramanuja set less store than Sankara on asceticism and
renunciation of the world. He held the doctrine called _samucchaya_
(or combination) namely that good works as well as knowledge are
efficacious for salvation.]
[Footnote 595: Also called Anandatirtha and Purnaprajna. According to
others he was born in 1238 A.D. See for his doctrines Grierson's
article Madhvas in _E.R.E._ and his own commentaries on the Chandogya
and Brihad Ar. Upanishads published in _Sacred Books of the Hindus_,
vols. III. and XIV. For his date Bhandarkar, _Vaishn. and Saivism_,
pp. 58-59 and _I.A._. 1914, pp. 233 ff. and 262 ff. Accounts of his
life and teaching have been written by Padmanabha Char. and Krishna
Svami Aiyer (Madras, 1909). His followers maintain that he is not dead
but still alive at Badari in the Himalayas.]
[Footnote 596: See Padmanabha Char. _l.c._ page 12. Madhva condemned
the worship of inanimate objects (_e.g._ com. Chand. Up. VII. 14. 2)
but not the worship of Brahman _in_ inanimate objects.]
[Footnote 597: In a work called the _Pashanda capetika_ or _A Slap for
Heretics_, all the adherents of Madhva are consigned to hell and the
Saurapurana, chaps. XXXVIII.-XL. contains a violent polemic against
them. See Jahn's _Analysis_, pp. 90-106 and Barth in _Melanges
Harlez_, pp. 12-25. It is curious that the Madhvas should have been
selected for attack, for in many ways they are less opposed to
Sivaites than are other Vishnuite sects but the author was clearly
badly informed about the doctrines which he attacks and he was
probably an old-fashioned Sivaite of the north who regarded Madhvism
as a new-fangled version of objectionable doctrines.
The Madhvas are equally violent in denouncing Sankara and his
followers. They miswrite the name Samkara, giving it the sense of
mongrel or dirt and hold that he was an incarnation of a demon called
Manimat sent by evil spirits to corrupt the world.]
[Footnote 598: See his comment on Chand. Up. VI. 8. 7. Compare
Bhag.-g. XV. 7. The text appears to say that the soul (Jiva) is a part
(amsa) of the Lord. Madhva says it is so-called because it bears some
reduced similitude to the Lord, though quite distinct from him.
Madhva's exegesis is supported by a system of tantric or cabalistic
interpretation in which every letter has a special meaning. Thus in
the passage of the Chand. Up. mentioned above the simple words _sa ya
eshah_ are explained as equivalent to Sara essence, yama the
controller, and ishta the desired one. The reading atat tvam asi is
said not to have originated with Madhva but to be found in a Bhagavata
work called the Samasamhita.]
[Footnote 599: In his commentary on the opening of the Chand. Up.
Madhva seems to imply a Trinity consisting of Vishnu, Rama (=Lakshmi)
and Vayu.]
[Footnote 600: This is expressly stated at the end of the commentary
on the Brih. Ar. Upan.]
[Footnote 601: _Life and teachings of Sri-Madhvacharyar_ by Padmanabha
Char. 1909, p. 159. Some have suspected a connection between Madhva's
teaching and Manicheism, because he attached much importance to an
obscure demon called Manimat (see Mahabh. III. 11, 661) whom he
considered incarnate in Sankara. It is conceivable that in his Persian
studies he may have heard of Mani as an arch-heretic and have
identified him with this demon but this does not imply any connection
between his own system (or Sankara's either) and Manicheism.]
[Footnote 602: Brih. Ar. Upan. III. 7. 2.]
[Footnote 603: Among them are the Manimanjari, the Madhvavijaya and
the Vayustuti, all attributed to a disciple of Madhva and his son.]
CHAPTER XXX
LATER VISHNUISM IN NORTH INDIA
1
With the fifteenth century Hinduism enters on a new phase. Sects arise
which show the influence of Mohammedanism, sometimes to such an extent
that it is hard to say whether they should be classed as Hindu or
Moslim, and many teachers repudiate caste. Also, whereas in the
previous centuries the centre of religious feeling lay in the south,
it now shifts to the north. Hinduism had been buffeted but not
seriously menaced there: the teachers of the south had not failed to
recognize by their pilgrimages the sanctity and authority of the
northern seats of learning: such works as the Gita-govinda testify to
the existence there of fervent Vishnuism. But the country had been
harassed by Moslim invasions and unsettled by the vicissitudes of
transitory dynasties. The Jains were powerful in Gujarat and
Rajputana. In Bengal Saktism and moribund Buddhism were not likely to
engender new enthusiasms. But in a few centuries the movements
inaugurated in the south increased in extension and strength. Hindus
and Mohammedans began to know more of each other, and in the sixteenth
century under the tolerant rule of Akbar and his successors the new
sects which had been growing were able to consolidate themselves.
After Ramanuja and Madhva, the next great name in the history of
Vishnuism, and indeed of Hinduism, is Ramanand. His date is
uncertain.[604] He was posterior to Ramanuja, from whose sect he
detached himself, and Kabir was his disciple, apparently his immediate
disciple. Some traditions give Prayaga as his birthplace, others
Melucote, but the north was the scene of his activity. He went on a
lengthy pilgrimage, and on his return was accused of having infringed
the rules of his sect as to eating, etc., and was excommunicated, but
received permission from his Guru to found a new sect. He then settled
in Benares and taught there. He wrote no treatise but various hymns
ascribed to him are still popular.[605] Though he is not associated
with any special dogma, yet his teaching is of great importance as
marking the origin of a popular religious movement characterized by
the use of the vernacular languages instead of Sanskrit, and by a
laxity in caste rules culminating in a readiness to admit as equals
all worshippers of the true God.[606] This God is Rama rather than
Krishna. I have already pointed out that the worship of Rama as the
Supreme Being (to be distinguished from respect for him as a hero) is
not early: in fact it appears to begin in the period which we are
considering. Of the human forms of the deity Krishna was clearly the
most popular but the school of Ramanuja, while admitting both Rama and
Krishna as incarnations, preferred to adore God under less
mythological and more philosophic names such as Narayana. Ramanand,
who addressed himself to all classes and not merely to the Brahman
aristocracy, selected as the divine name Rama. It was more human than
Narayana, less sensuous than Krishna. Every Hindu was familiar with
the poetry which sings of Rama as a chivalrous and godlike hero. But
he was not, like Krishna, the lover of the soul, and when Ramaism
was divested of mythology by successive reformers it became a
monotheism in which Hindu and Moslim elements could blend. Ramanand
had twelve disciples, among whom were Kabir, a Raja called Pipa, Rai
Das, a leather-seller (and therefore an outcast according to Hindu
ideas) as well as Brahmans. The Ramats, as his followers were called,
are a numerous and respectable body in north India, using the same
sectarian mark as the Vadagalais from whom they do not differ
materially, although a Hindu might consider that their small regard
for caste is a vital distinction. They often call themselves
Avadhutas, that is, those who have shaken off worldly restrictions,
and the more devout among them belong to an order divided into four
classes of which only the highest is reserved to Brahmans and the
others are open to all castes. They own numerous and wealthy maths,
but it is said that in some of these celibacy is not required and that
monks and nuns live openly as man and wife.[607]
An important aspect of the Ramat movement is its effect on the popular
literature of Hindustan which in the fifteenth and even more in the
sixteenth century blossoms into flowers of religious poetry. Many of
these writings possess real merit and are still a moral and spiritual
force. European scholars are only beginning to pay sufficient
attention to this mighty flood of hymns which gushed forth in nearly
all the vernaculars of India[608] and appealed directly to the people.
The phenomenon was not really new. The psalms of the Buddhists and
even the hymns of the Rig Veda were vernacular literature in their
day, and in the south the songs of the Devaram and Nalayiram are of
some antiquity. But in the north, though some Prakrit literature has
been preserved, Sanskrit was long considered the only proper language
for religion. We can hardly doubt that vernacular hymns existed, but
they did not receive the imprimatur of any teacher, and have not
survived. But about 1400 all this changes. Though Ramanand was not
much of a writer he gave his authority to the use of the vernacular:
he did not, like Ramanuja, either employ or enjoin Sanskrit and the
meagre details which we have of his circle lead us to imagine him
surrounded by men of homely speech.
One current in this sea of poetry was Krishnaite and as such not
directly connected with Ramanand. Vidyapati[609] sang of the loves of
Krishna and Radha in the Maithili dialect and also in a form of
Bengali. In the early fifteenth century (c. 1420) we have the poetess
Mira Bai, wife of the Raja of Chitore who gained celebrity and
domestic unhappiness by her passionate devotion to the form of
Krishna known as Ranchor. According to one legend the image came to
life in answer to her fervent prayers, and throwing his arms round her
allowed her to meet a rapturous death in his embrace. This is
precisely the sentiment which we find later in the teaching of
Vallabhacarya and Caitanya. The hymns of the Bengali poets have been
collected in the _Padakalpataru_, one of the chief sacred books of the
Bengali Vaishnavas. From Vallabhacarya spring the group of poets who
adorned Braj or the Muttra district. Pre-eminent among them is the
blind Sur Das who flourished about 1550 and wrote such sweet lyrics
that Krishna himself came down and acted as his amanuensis. A
somewhat later member of the same group is Nabha Das, the author of
the Bhakta Mala or Legends of the Saints, which is still one of the
most popular religious works of northern India.[610] Almost
contemporary with Sur Das was the great Tulsi Das and Grierson[611]
enumerated thirteen subsequent writers who composed Ramayanas in some
dialect of Hindi. A little later came the Mahratta poet Tukaram (born
about 1600) who gave utterance to Krishnaism in another language.
Tulsi Das is too important to be merely mentioned as one in a list of
poets. He is a great figure in Indian religion, and the saying that
his Ramayana is more popular and more honoured in the North-western
Provinces than the Bible in England is no exaggeration.[612] He came
into the world in 1532 but was exposed by his parents as born under an
unlucky star and was adopted by a wandering Sadhu. He married but his
son died and after this loss he himself became a Sadhu. He began to
write his Ramayana in Oudh at the age of forty-three, but moved to
Benares where he completed it and died in 1623. On the Tulsi Ghat,
near the river Asi, may still be seen the rooms which he occupied.
They are at the top of a lofty building and command a beautiful view
over the river[4].
His Ramayana which is an original composition and not a translation of
Valmiki's work is one of the great religious poems of the world and
not unworthy to be set beside _Paradise Lost_. The sustained majesty
of diction and exuberance of ornament are accompanied by a spontaneity
and vigour rare in any literature, especially in Asia. The poet is not
embellishing a laboured theme: he goes on and on because his emotion
bursts forth again and again, diversifying the same topic with an
inexhaustible variety of style and metaphor. As in some forest a
stream flows among flowers and trees, but pours forth a flood of pure
water uncoloured by the plants on its bank, so in the heart of Tulsi
Das the love of God welled up in a mighty fountain ornamented by the
mythology and legends with which he bedecked it, yet unaffected by
them. He founded no sect, which is one reason of his popularity, for
nearly all sects can read him with edification, and he is primarily a
poet not a theologian. But though he allows himself a poet's licence
to state great truths in various ways, he still enunciates a definite
belief. This is theism, connected with the name Rama. Since in the
north he is the author most esteemed by the Vishnuites, it would be a
paradox to refuse him that designation, but his teaching is not so
much that Vishnu is the Supreme Being who becomes incarnate in Rama,
as that Rama, and more rarely Hari and Vasudeva, are names of the
All-God who manifests himself in human form. Vishnu is mentioned as a
celestial being in the company of Brahma,[613] and so far as any god
other than Rama receives attention it is Siva, not indeed as Rama's
equal, but as a being at once very powerful and very devout, who acts
as a mediator or guide. "Without prayer to Siva no one can attain to
the faith which I require."[614] "Rama is God, the totality of good,
imperishable, invisible, uncreated, incomparable, void of all change,
indivisible, whom the Veda declares that it cannot define."[615] And
yet, "He whom scripture and philosophy have sung and whom the saints
love to contemplate, even the Lord God, he is the son of Dasarath,
King of Kosala."[616] By the power of Rama exist Brahma, Vishnu and
Siva, as also Maya, the illusion which brings about the world. His
"delusive power is a vast fig-tree, its clustering fruit the countless
multitude of worlds, while all things animate and inanimate are like
the insects that dwell inside and think their own particular fig the
only one in existence."[617] God has made all things: pain and
pleasure, sin and merit, saints and sinners, Brahmans and butchers,
passion and asceticism. It is the Veda that distinguishes good and
evil among them.[618] The love of God and faith are the only road to
happiness. "The worship of Hari is real and all the world is a
dream."[619] Tulsi Das often uses the language of the Advaita
philosophy and even calls God the annihilator of duality, but though
he admits the possibility of absorption and identification with the
deity, he holds that the double relation of a loving God and a loving
soul constitutes greater bliss. "The saint was not absorbed into the
divinity for this reason that he had already received the gift of
faith."[620] And in a similar spirit he says, "Let those preach in
their wisdom who contemplate Thee as the supreme spirit, the uncreate,
inseparable from the universe, recognizable only by inference and
beyond the understanding; but we, O Lord, will ever hymn the glories
of thy incarnation." Like most Hindus he is little disposed to enquire
what is the purpose of creation, but he comes very near to saying that
God has evolved the world by the power of Maya because the bliss which
God and his beloved feel is greater than the bliss of impersonal
undifferentiated divinity. It will be seen that Tulsi Das is
thoroughly Hindu: neither his fundamental ideas nor his mythological
embellishments owe anything to Islam or Christianity. He accepts
unreservedly such principles as Maya, transmigration, Karma and
release. But his sentiments, more than those of any other Indian
writer, bear a striking resemblance to the New Testament. Though he
holds that the whole world is of God, he none the less bids men shun
evil and choose the good, and the singular purity of his thoughts and
style contrasts strongly with other Vishnuite works. He does not
conceive of the love which may exist between the soul and God as a
form of sexual passion.
2
The beginning of the sixteenth century was a time of religious
upheaval in India for it witnessed the careers not only of
Vallabhacarya and Caitanya, but also of Nanak, the founder of the
Sikhs. In the west it was the epoch of Luther and as in Europe so in
India no great religious movement has taken place since that time. The
sects then founded have swollen into extravagance and been reformed:
other sects have arisen from a mixture of Hinduism with Moslem and
Christian elements, but no new and original current of thought or
devotion has been started.
Though the two great sects associated with the names of Caitanya and
Vallabhacarya have different geographical spheres and also present
some differences in doctrinal details, both are emotional and even
erotic and both adore Krishna as a child or young man. Their almost
simultaneous appearance in eastern and western India and their rapid
growth show that they represent an unusually potent current of ideas
and sentiments. But the worship of Krishna was, as we have seen,
nothing new in northern India. Even that relatively late phase in
which the sports of the divine herdsman are made to typify the love of
God for human souls is at least as early as the Gita-govinda written
about 1170. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the history of
Krishna worship is not clear,[621] but it persisted and about 1400
found speech in Bengal and in Rajputana.
According to Vaishnava theologians the followers of
Vallabhacarya[622] are a section of the Rudra-sampradaya founded in
the early part of the fifteenth century by Vishnusvami, an emigrant
from southern India, who preached chiefly in Gujarat. The doctrines of
the sect are supposed to have been delivered by the Almighty to Siva
from whom Vishnusvami was fifteenth in spiritual descent, and are
known by the name of _Suddhadvaita_ or pure non-duality. They teach
that God has three attributes--_sac-cid-ananda_--existence,
consciousness and bliss. In the human or animal soul bliss is
suppressed and in matter consciousness is suppressed too. But when the
soul attains release it recovers bliss and becomes identical in nature
with God. For practical purposes the Vallabhacaris may be regarded as
a sect founded by Vallabha, said to have been born in 1470. He was the
son of a Telinga Brahman, who had migrated with Vishnusvami to the
north.
Such was the pious precocity of Vallabha that at the age of twelve he
had already discovered a new religion and started on a pilgrimage to
preach it. He was well received at the Court of Vijayanagar, and was
so successful in disputation that he was recognized as chief doctor of
the Vaishnava school. He subsequently spent nine years in travelling
twice round India and at Brindaban received a visit from Krishna in
person, who bade him promulgate his worship in the form of the divine
child known as Bala Gopala. Vallabha settled in Benares and is said to
have composed a number of works which are still extant.[623] He gained
further victories as a successful disputant and also married and
became the father of two sons. At the age of fifty-two he took to the
life of a Sannyasi, but died forty-two days afterwards.
Though Vallabha died as an ascetic, his doctrines are currently known
as the Pushti Marga, the road of well-being or comfort. His
philosophy was more decidedly monistic than is usual among Vishnuites,
and Indian monism has generally taught that, as the soul and God are
one in essence, the soul should realize this identity and renounce the
pleasures of the senses. But with Vallabhacarya it may be said that
the vision which is generally directed godwards and forgets the flesh,
turned earthwards and forgot God, for his teaching is that since the
individual and the deity are one, the body should be reverenced and
indulged. Pushti[624] or well-being is the special grace of God and
the elect are called Pushti-jiva. They depend entirely on God's grace
and are contrasted with Maryada-jivas, or those who submit to moral
discipline. The highest felicity is not _mukti_ or liberation but the
eternal service of Krishna and eternal participation in his sports.
These doctrines have led to deplorable results, but so strong is the
Indian instinct towards self-denial and asceticism that it is the
priests rather than the worshippers who profit by this permission to
indulge the body, and the chief feature of the sect is the extravagant
respect paid to the descendants of Vallabhacarya. They are known as
Maharajas or Great Kings and their followers, especially women,
dedicate to them _tan_, _dhan_, _man_: body, purse and spirit, for it
is a condition of the road of well-being that before the devotee
enjoys anything himself he must dedicate it to the deity and the
Maharaj represents the deity. The daily prayer of the sect is "Om.
Krishna is my refuge. I who suffer the infinite pain and torment of
enduring for a thousand years separation from Krishna, consecrate to
Krishna my body, senses, life, heart and faculties, my wife, house,
family, property and my own self. I am thy slave, O Krishna."[625]
This formula is recited to the Maharaj with peculiar solemnity by each
male as he comes of age and is admitted as a full member of the sect.
The words in which this dedication of self and family is made are not
in themselves open to criticism and a parallel may be found in
Christian hymns. But the literature of the Vallabhis unequivocally
states that the Guru is the same as the deity[626] and there can be
little doubt that even now the Maharajas are adored by their
followers, especially by the women, as representatives of Krishna in
his character of the lover of the Gopis and that the worship is often
licentious.[627] Many Hindus denounce the sect and in 1862 one of the
Maharajas brought an action for libel in the supreme court of Bombay
on account of the serious charges of immorality brought against him in
the native press. The trial became a _cause celebre_. Judgment was
delivered against the Maharaj, the Judge declaring the charges to be
fully substantiated. Yet in spite of these proceedings the sect still
flourishes, apparently unchanged in doctrine and practice, and has a
large following among the mercantile castes of western India. The
Radha-Vallabhis, an analogous sect founded by Harivamsa in the
sixteenth century, give the pre-eminence to Radha, the wife of
Krishna, and in their secret ceremonies are said to dress as women.
The worship of Radha is a late phase of Vishnuism and is not known
even to the Bhagavata Purana.[628]
Vallabhism owes much of its success to the family of the founder. They
had evidently a strong dynastic sentiment as well as a love of
missionary conquest--a powerful combination. Vallabhacarya left behind
him eighty-four principal disciples whose lives are recorded in the
work called the _Stories of the Eighty-four Vaishnavas_, and his
authority descended to his son Vithalnath. Like his father, Vithalnath
was active as a proselytizer and pilgrim and propagated his doctrines
extensively in many parts of western India such as Cutch, Malwa, and
Bijapur. His converts came chiefly from the mercantile classes but
also included some Brahmans and Mussulmans. He is said to have
abolished caste distinctions but the sect has not preserved this
feature. In his later years he resided at Muttra or the neighbouring
town of Gokul, whence he is known as Gokul Gosainji. This title of
Gosain, which is still borne by his male descendants, is derived from
Krishna's name Gosvamin, the lord of cattle.[629] He had seven sons,
in each of whom Krishna is said to have been incarnate for five
years. They exercised spiritual authority in separate districts--as we
might say in different dioceses--but the fourth son, Gokulnathji and
his descendants claimed and still claim a special pre-eminence. The
family is at present represented by about a hundred males who are
accepted as incarnations and receive the title of Maharaja. About
twenty reside at Gokul[630] or near Muttra: there are a few in Bombay
and in all the great cities of western India, but the Maharaj of Nath
Dwara in Rajputana is esteemed the chief. This place is not an ancient
seat of Krishna worship, but during the persecution of Aurungzeb a
peculiarly holy image was brought thither from Muttra and placed in
the shrine where it still remains.
A protest against the immorality of the Vallabhi sect was made by
Swaminarayana, a Brahman who was born in the district of Lucknow
about 1780.[631] He settled in Ahmedabad and gained so large a
following that the authorities became alarmed and imprisoned him. But
his popularity only increased: he became the centre of a great
religious movement: hymns descriptive of his virtues and sufferings
were sung by his followers and when he was released he found himself
at the head of a band which was almost an army. He erected a temple in
the village of Wartal in Baroda, which he made the centre of his sect,
and recruited followers by means of periodical tours throughout
Gujarat. His doctrines are embodied in an anthology called the
Sikshapatri consisting of 212 precepts, some borrowed from accepted
Hindu scriptures and some original and in a catechism called
Vacanamritam. His teaching was summed up in the phrase "Devotion to
Krishna with observance of duty and purity of life" and in practice
took the form of a laudable polemic against the licentiousness of the
Vallabhis. As in most of the purer sects of Vishnuism, Krishna is
regarded merely as a name of the Supreme Deity. Thus the Sikshapatri
says "Narayana and Siva should be equally recognized as parts of one
and the same supreme spirit, since both have been declared in the
Vedas to be forms of Brahma. On no account let it be thought that
difference in form or name makes any difference in the identity of the
deity." The followers of Swaminarayana still number about 200,000 in
western India and are divided into the laity and a body of celibate
clergy. I have visited their religious establishments in Ahmedabad. It
consists of a temple with a large and well-kept monastery in which are
housed about 300 monks who wear costumes of reddish grey. Except in
Assam I have not seen in India any parallel to this monastery either
in size or discipline. It is provided with a library and hospital. In
the temple are images of Nara and Narayana (explained as Krishna
and Arjuna), Krishna and Radha, Ganesa and Hanuman.[632]
3
The sect founded by Caitanya is connected with eastern India as the
Vallabhis are with the west. Bengal is perhaps the native land of the
worship of Krishna as the god of love. It was there that Jayadeva
flourished in the last days of the Sena dynasty and the lyrical poet
Chandidas at the end of the fourteenth century. About the same time
the still greater poet Vidyapati was singing in Durbhanga. For these
writers, as for Caitanya, religion is the bond of love which unites
the soul and God, as typified by the passion[633] that drew together
Radha and Krishna. The idea that God loves and seeks out human souls
is familiar to Christianity and receives very emotional expression in
well-known hymns, but the bold humanity of these Indian lyrics seems
to Europeans unsuitable. I will let a distinguished Indian apologize
for it in his own words:
"The paradox that has to be understood is that Krishna means God.
Yet he is represented as a youth, standing at a gate, trying to waylay
the beloved maiden, attempting to entrap the soul, as it were, into a
clandestine meeting. This, which is so inconceivable to a purely
modern mind, presents no difficulty at all to the Vaishnava devotee.
To him God is the lover himself: the sweet flowers, the fresh grass,
the gay sound heard in the woods are direct messages and tokens of
love to his soul, bringing to his mind at every instant that loving
God whom he pictures as ever anxious to win the human heart."[634]
Caitanya[635] was born at Nadia in 1485 and came under the influence
of the Madhva sect. In youth he was a prodigy of learning,[636] but at
the age of about seventeen while on a pilgrimage to Gaya began to
display that emotional and even hysterical religious feeling which
marked all his teaching. He swooned at the mention of Krishna's name
and passed his time in dancing and singing hymns. At twenty-five he
became a Sannyasi, and at the request of his mother, who did not wish
him to wander too far, settled in Puri near the temple of Jagannath.
Here he spent the rest of his life in preaching, worship and ecstatic
meditation, but found time to make a tour in southern India and
another to Brindaban and Benares. He appears to have left the
management of his sect largely to his disciples, Advaita, Nityananda
and Haridas, and to have written nothing himself. But he evidently
possessed a gift of religious magnetism and exercised an extraordinary
influence on those who heard him preach or sing. He died or
disappeared before the age of fifty but apparently none of the stories
about his end merit credence.
Although the teaching of Caitanya is not so objectionable morally as
the doctrines of the Vallabhis, it follows the same line of making
religion easy and emotional and it is not difficult to understand how
his preaching, set forth with the eloquence which he possessed, won
converts from the lower classes by thousands. He laid no stress on
asceticism, approved of marriage and rejected all difficult rites and
ceremonies. The form of worship which he specially enjoined was the
singing of Kirtans or hymns consisting chiefly in a repetition of the
divine names accompanied by music and dancing. Swaying the body and
repetition of the same formula or hymn are features of emotional
religion found in the most diverse regions, for instance among the
Rufais or Howling Dervishes, at Welsh revival meetings and in negro
churches in the Southern States. It is therefore unnecessary to seek
any special explanation in India but perhaps there is some connection
between the religious ecstasies of Vaishnavas and Dervishes. Within
Caitanya's sect, caste was not observed. He is said to have admitted
many Moslims to membership and to have regarded all worshippers of
Krishna as equal. Though caste has grown up again, yet the old
regulation is still in force inside the temple of Jagannath at Puri.
Within the sacred enclosure all are treated as of one caste and eat
the same sacred food. In Caitanya's words "the mercy of God regards
neither tribe nor family."
His theology[637] shows little originality. The deity is called
Bhagavan or more frequently Hari. His majesty and omnipotence are
personified as Narayana, his beauty and ecstasy as Krishna. The
material world is defined as _bhedabhedaprakasa_, a manifestation of
the deity as separate and yet not separate from him, and the soul is
_vibhinnamsa_ or a detached portion of him. Some souls are in
bondage to Prakriti or Maya, others through faith and love attain
deliverance. Reason is useless in religious matters, but _ruci_ or
spiritual feeling has a quick intuition of the divine.
Salvation is obtained by Bhakti, faith or devotion, which embraces and
supersedes all other duties. This devotion means absolute
self-surrender to the deity and love for him which asks for no return
but is its own reward. "He who expects remuneration for his love acts
as a trader." In this devotion there are five degrees: (_a_) santi,
calm meditation, (_b_) dasya, servitude, (_c_) sakhya, friendship,
(_d_) vatsalya, love like that of a child for its parent, (_e_)
madhurya, love like that of a woman for a lover. All these sentiments
are found in God and this combined ecstasy is an eternal principle
identified with Hari himself, just as in the language of the Gospels,
God is love. Though Caitanya makes love the crown and culmination of
religion, the worship of his followers is not licentious, and it is
held that the right frame of mind is best attained by the recitation
of Krishna's names especially Hari.
The earlier centre of Caitanya's sect was his birthplace, Nadia, but
both during his life and afterwards his disciples frequented Brindaban
and sought out the old sacred sites which were at that time neglected.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century Lala Baba, a wealthy
Bengali merchant, became a mendicant and visited Muttra. Though he had
renounced the world, he still retained his business instincts and
bought up the villages which contained the most celebrated shrines and
were most frequented by pilgrims. The result was a most profitable
speculation and the establishment of Caitanya's Church in the district
of Braj, which thus became the holy land of both the great Krishnaite
sects. The followers of Caitanya at the present day are said to be
divided into Gosains, or ecclesiastics, who are the descendants of the
founder's original disciples, the Vrikats or celibates, and the laity.
Besides the celibates there are several semi-monastic orders who adopt
the dress of monks but marry. They have numerous maths at Nadia and
elsewhere. Like the Vallabhis, this sect deifies its leaders.
Caitanya, Nityananda and Advaita are called the three masters (Prabhu)
and believed to be a joint incarnation of Krishna, though according
to some only the first two shared the divine essence. Six of
Caitanya's disciples known as the six Gosains are also greatly
venerated and even ordinary religious teachers still receive an almost
idolatrous respect.
Though Caitanya was not a writer himself he exercised a great
influence on the literature of Bengal. In the opinion of so competent
a judge as Dinesh Chandra Sen, Bengali was raised to the status of a
literary language by the Vishnuite hymn-writers just as Pali was by
the Buddhists. Such hymns were written before the time of Caitanya but
after him they became extremely numerous[638] and their tone and style
are said to change. The ecstasies and visions of which they tell are
those described in his biographies and this emotional poetry has
profoundly influenced all classes in Bengal. But there was and still
is a considerable hostility between the Saktas and Vishnuites.
4
A form of Vishnuism, possessing a special local flavour, is connected
with the Maratha country and with the names of Namdev, Tukaram[639]
and Ramdas, the spiritual preceptor of Sivaji. The centre of this
worship is the town of Pandharpur and I have not found it described as
a branch of any of the four Vishnuite Churches: but the facts that
Namdev wrote in Hindi as well as in Marathi, that many of his hymns
are included in the Granth, and that his sentiments show affinities to
the teaching of Nanak, suggest that he belonged to the school of
Ramanand. There is however a difficulty about his date. Native
tradition gives 1270 as the year of his birth but the language of his
poems both in Marathi and Hindi is said to be too modern for this
period and to indicate that he lived about 1400,[640] when he might
easily have felt the influence of Ramanand, for he travelled in the
north.
Most of his poetry however has for its centre the temple of Pandharpur
where was worshipped a deity called Vitthala, Vittoba or
Pandurang. It is said that the first two names are dialectic
variations of Vishnu, but that Pandurang is an epithet of
Siva.[641] There is no doubt that the deity of Pandharpur has for many
centuries been identified with Krishna, who, as in Bengal, is god
the lover of the soul. But the hymns of the Marathas are less sensuous
and Krishna is coupled not with his mistress Radha, but with his
wife Rukmini. In fact Rukminipati or husband of Rukmini is one of
his commonest titles. Namdev's opinions varied at different times and
perhaps in different moods: like most religious poets he cannot be
judged by logic or theology. Sometimes he inveighs against
idolatry--understood as an attempt to limit God to an image--but in
other verses he sings the praises of Pandurang, the local deity, as
the lord and creator of all. His great message is that God--by
whatever name he is called--is everywhere and accessible to all,
accessible without ceremonial or philosophy. "Vows, fasts and
austerities are not needful, nor need you go on pilgrimage. Be
watchful in your heart and always sing the name of Hari. Yoga,
sacrifices and renunciation are not needful. Love the feet of Hari.
Neither need you contemplate the absolute. Hold fast to the love of
Hari's name. Says Nama, be steadfast in singing the name and then Hari
will appear to you."[642]
Tukaram is better known than Namdev and his poetry which was part of
the intellectual awakening that accompanied the rise of the Maratha
power is still a living force wherever Marathi is spoken. He lived
from 1607 to 1649 and was born in a family of merchants near Poona.
But he was too generous to succeed in trade and a famine, in which one
of his two wives died, brought him to poverty. Thenceforth he devoted
himself to praying and preaching. He developed a great aptitude for
composing rhyming songs in irregular metre,[643] and like Caitanya he
held services consisting of discourses interspersed with such songs,
prepared or extempore. In spite of persecution by the Brahmans, these
meetings became very popular and were even attended by the great
Sivaji.
His creed is the same as that of Namdev and finds expression in verses
such as these. "This thy nature is beyond the grasp of mind or words,
and therefore I have made love a measure. I measure the Endless by the
measure of love: he is not to be truly measured otherwise. Thou art
not to be found by Yoga, sacrifice, fasting, bodily exertions or
knowledge. O Kesava, accept the service which we render."
But if he had no use for asceticism he also feared the passions. "The
Endless is beyond; between him and me are the lofty mountains of
desire and anger. I cannot ascend them and find no pass." In poems
which are apparently later, his tone is more peaceful. He speaks much
of the death of self, of purity of heart, and of self-dedication to
God. "Dedicate all you do to God and have done with it: Tuka says, do
not ask me again and again: nothing else is to be taught but this."
Maratha critics have discussed whether Tukaram followed the monistic
philosophy of Sankara or not and it must be confessed that his
utterances are contradictory. But the gist of the matter is that he
disliked not so much monism as philosophy. Hence he says "For me there
is no use in the Advaita. Sweet to me is the service of thy feet. The
relation between God and his devotee is a source of high joy. Make me
feel this, keeping me distinct from thee." But he can also say almost
in the language of the Upanishads. "When salt is dissolved in water,
what remains distinct? I have thus become one in joy with thee and
have lost myself in thee. When fire and camphor are brought together,
is there any black remnant? Tuka says, thou and I were one light."
5
There are interesting Vishnuite sects in Assam.[644] Until the
sixteenth century Hinduism was represented in those regions by
Saktism, which was strong among the upper classes, though the mass of
the people still adhered to their old tribal worships. The first
apostle of Vishnuism was Sankar Deb in the sixteenth century. He
preached first in the Ahom kingdom but was driven out by the
opposition of Saktist Brahmans, and found a refuge at Barpeta. He
appears to have inculcated the worship of Krishna as the sole divine
being and to have denounced idolatry, sacrifices and caste. These
views were held even more strictly by his successor, Madhab Deb, a
writer of repute whose works, such as the Namghosha and Ratnavali, are
regarded as scripture by his followers. Though the Brahmans of Assam
were opposed to the introduction of Vishnuism and a section of them
continued to instigate persecutions for two centuries or more, yet
when it became clear that the new teaching had a great popular
following another section were anxious that it should not pass out of
sacerdotal control and organized it as a legitimate branch of
Hinduism. While fully recognizing the doctrine of justification by
faith, they also made provision for due respect to caste and Brahmanic
authority.
According to the last census of India[645] the common view that
Sankar Deb drew his inspiration from Caitanya meets with criticism in
Assam. His biographies say that he lived 120 years and died in 1569.
It has been generally assumed that his age has been exaggerated but
that the date of his death is correct. If it can be proved, as
contended, that he was preaching in 1505, there would be no difficulty
in admitting that he was independent of Caitanya and belonged to an
earlier phase of the Vishnuite movement which produced the activity of
Vallabha and the poetry of Vidyapati. It is a further argument for
this independence that he taught the worship of Vishnu only and not
of Radha and discountenanced the use of images. On the other hand it
is stated that he sojourned in Bengal and it appears that soon after
his death his connection with the teaching of Caitanya was recognized
in Assam.
At present there are three sects in Assam. Firstly, the Mahapurushias,
who follow more or less faithfully the doctrines of Sankar and
Madhab. They admit Sudras as religious teachers and abbots, and lay
little stress on caste while not entirely rejecting it. They abstain
almost entirely from the use of images in worship, the only exception
being that a small figure of Krishna in the form of Vaikuntha
Natha is found in their temples. It is not the principal object of
veneration but stands to the left of a throne on which lies a copy of
the Namghosha.[646] This, together with the foot-prints of Sankar and
Madhab, receives the homage of the faithful. The chief centre of the
Mahapurushias is Barpeta, but they have also monasteries on the Majuli
Island and elsewhere. Secondly, the Bamunia monasteries, with a large
lay following, represent a brahmanized form of the Mahapurushia faith.
This movement began in the life-time of Madhab. Many of his Brahman
disciples seceded from him and founded separate communities which
insisted on the observance of caste (especially on the necessity of
religious teachers being Brahmans) but tolerated image-worship and the
use of some kinds of flesh as food. Though this sect was persecuted by
the Ahom kings,[647] they were strong enough to maintain themselves. A
compromise was effected in the reign of Rudra Singh (1696-1714), by
which their abbots were shown all honour but were assigned the Majuli
Island in the upper Brahmaputra as their chief, if not only,
residence. This island is still studded with numerous _Sattras_ or
monasteries, the largest of which contain three or four hundred monks,
known as Bhakats (Bhaktas). They take no vows and wear no special
costume but are obliged to be celibate while they remain in the
sattra. The Mahapurushia and Bamunia monasteries are of similar
appearance, and in externals (though not in doctrine) seem to have
been influenced by the Lamaism of the neighbouring regions of Sikhim
and Tibet. The temples are long, low, wooden buildings, covered by
roofs of corrugated iron or thatched, and containing inside a nave
with two rows of wooden pillars which leads to a sanctuary divided
from it by a screen. The third sect are the Moamarias, of political
rather than religious importance. They represent a democratic element,
recruited from non-Hindu tribes, which seceded even in the life-time
of Sankar Deb. They appear to reject nearly all Hindu observances and
to worship aboriginal deities as well as Krishna. Little is known of
their religious teaching, if indeed they have anything worthy of the
name, but in the latter half of the eighteenth century they distracted
the kingdom of Assam with a series of rebellions which were suppressed
with atrocious cruelty.
Caitanya is said to have admitted some Mohammedans as members of his
sect. The precedent has not been followed among most branches of his
later adherents but a curious half-secret sect, found throughout
Bengal in considerable numbers and called Kartabhajas,[648] appears to
represent an eccentric development of his teaching in combination with
Mohammedan elements. Both Moslims and Hindus belong to this sect. They
observe the ordinary social customs of the class to which they belong,
but it is said that those who are nominal Moslims neither circumcize
themselves nor frequent mosques. The founder, called Ram Smaran Pal,
was born in the Nadia district about 1700, and his chief doctrine is
said to have been that there is only one God who is incarnate in the
Head of the sect or Karta.[649] For the first few generations the
headship was invested in the founder and his descendants but
dissensions occurred and there is now no one head: the faithful can
select any male member of the founder's family as the object of their
devotion. The Karta claims to be the owner of every human body and is
said to exact rent for the soul's tenancy thereof. No distinction of
caste or creed is recognized and hardly any ceremonies are prescribed
but meat and wine are forbidden, the mantra of the sect is to be
repeated five times a day and Friday is held sacred. These observances
seem an imitation of Mohammedanism.[650]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 604: See Bhandarkar, _Vaishn. and Saivism_, pp. 66 ff.,
Grierson in _Ind. Ant._ 1893, p. 226, and also in article Ramanandi in
_E.R.E._; Farquhar, _J.R.A.S._1920, pp. 185 ff. Though Indian
tradition seems to be unanimous in giving 1299 A.D. (4400 Kali) as the
date of Ramanand's birth, all that we know about himself and his
disciples makes it more probable that he was born nearly a century
later. The history of ideas, too, becomes clear and intelligible if we
suppose that Ramanand, Kabir and Nanak flourished about 1400, 1450 and
1500 respectively. One should be cautious in allowing such arguments
to outweigh unanimous tradition, but tradition also assigns to
Ramanand an improbably long life, thus indicating a feeling that he
influenced the fifteenth century. Also the traditions as to the number
of teachers between Ramanuja and Ramanand differ greatly.]
[Footnote 605: One of them is found in the Granth of the Sikhs.]
[Footnote 606: Ramanand's maxim was "Jati pati puchai nahikoi: Hari-ku
bhajai so Hari-kau hoi." Let no one ask a man's caste or sect. Whoever
adores God, he is God's own.]
[Footnote 607: Bhattacharya, _Hindu Castes and Sects_, p. 445.]
[Footnote 608: Thus we have the poems of Kabir, Nanak and others
contained in the Granth of the Sikhs and tending to Mohammedanism: the
hymns wherein Mira Bai, Vallabha and his disciples praised Krishna
in Rajputana and Braj: the poets inspired by Caitanya in Bengal:
Sankar Deb and Madhab Deb in Assam: Namdev and Tukaram in the Maratha
country.]
[Footnote 609: See Beames, _J.A._ 1873, pp. 37 ff., and Grierson,
_Maithili Christomathy_, pp. 34 ff., in extra No. to _Journ. As. Soc.
Bengal_, Part I. for 1882 and Coomaraswamy's illustrated translation
of Vidyapati, 1915. It is said that a land grant proves he was a
celebrated Pandit in 1400. The Bengali Vaishnava poet Chandi Das
was his contemporary.]
[Footnote 610: See Grierson, Gleanings from the Bhaktamala, _J.R.A.S._
1909 and 1910.]
[Footnote 611: _Modern Vernacular Literature of Hindustan_, 1889, p.
57.]
[Footnote 612: Similarly Dinesh Chandra Sen (_Lang, and Lit. of
Bengal_, p. 170) says that Krittivasa's translation of the Ramayana
"is the Bible of the people of the Gangetic Valley and it is for the
most part the peasants who read it." Krittivasa was born in 1346 and
roughly contemporary with Ramanand. Thus the popular interest in Rama
was roused in different provinces at the same time.
He also wrote several other poems, among which may be mentioned the
Gitavali and Kavittavali, dedicated respectively to the infancy and
the heroic deeds of Rama, and the Vinaya Pattrika or petition, a
volume of hymns and prayers.]
[Footnote 613: See Growse's _Translation_, vol. I. pp. 60, 62.]
[Footnote 614: Ib. vol. III. p. 190, cf. vol. I. p. 88 and vol. III.
pp. 66-67.]
[Footnote 615: Ib. vol. II. p. 54.]
[Footnote 616: Ib. vol. I. p. 77.]
[Footnote 617: Growse, _l.c._ vol. II. p. 200, cf. p. 204. Maya who sets
the whole world dancing and whose actions no one can understand is
herself set dancing with all her troupe, like an actress on the stage,
by the play of the Lord's eyebrows. Cf. too, for the infinity of
worlds, pp. 210, 211.]
[Footnote 618: Growse aptly compares St. Paul, "I had not known evil
but by the law."]
[Footnote 619: Ib. vol. II. p. 223.]
[Footnote 620: Ib. vol. II. p. 196.]
[Footnote 621: The Vishnuite sect called Nimavat is said to have been
exterminated by Jains (Grierson in _E.R.E._ sub. V. Bhakti-marga, p.
545). This may point to persecution during this period.]
[Footnote 622: For Vallabhacarya and his sect, see especially Growse,
_Mathura, a district memoir_, 1874; _History of the sect of the
Maharajas in western India_ (anonymous), 1865. Also Bhandarkar,
_Vaishn. and Saivism_, pp. 76-82 and Farquhar, _Outlines of Relig.
Lit. of India_, pp. 312-317.]
[Footnote 623: The principal of them are the Siddhanta-Rahasya and the
Bhagavata-Tika-Subodhini, a commentary on the Bhagavata Purana. This
is a short poem of only seventeen lines printed in Growse's _Mathura_,
p. 156. It professes to be a revelation from the deity to the
effect that sin can be done away with by union with Brahma
(Brahma-sambandha-karanat). Other authoritative works of the sect are
the Suddhadvaita martanda, Sakalacaryamatasangraha and
Prameyaratnarnava, all edited in the Chowkhamba Sanskrit series.]
[Footnote 624: Cf. the use of the word poshanam in the Bhagavata
Purana, II. X.]
[Footnote 625: Growse, _Mathura_, p. 157, says this formula is based
on the Naradapancaratra. It is called Samarpana, dedication, or
Brahma-sambandha, connecting oneself with the Supreme Being.]
[Footnote 626: For instance "Whoever holds his Guru and Krishna to
be distinct and different shall be born again as a bird." Harirayaji
32. Quoted in _History of the Sect of the Maharajas_, p. 82.]
[Footnote 627: In the ordinary ceremonial the Maharaj stands beside
the image of Krishna and acknowledges the worship offered. Sometimes
he is swung in a swing with or without the image. The hymns sung on
these occasions are frequently immoral. Even more licentious are the
meetings or dances known as Ras Mandali and Ras Lila. A meal of hot
food seasoned with aphrodisiacs is also said to be provided in the
temples. The water in which the Maharaj's linen or feet have been
washed is sold for a high price and actually drunk by devotees.]
[Footnote 628: Strictly speaking the Radha-Vallabhis are not an
offshoot of Vallabha's school, but of the Nimavats or of the
Madhva-sampradaya. The theory underlying their strange practices seems
to be that Krishna is the only male and that all mankind should
cultivate sentiments of female love for him. See Macnicol, _Indian
Theism_, p. 134.]
[Footnote 629: But other explanations are current such as Lord of the
senses or Lord of the Vedas.]
[Footnote 630: See Growse, _Mathura_, p. 153. I can entirely confirm
what he says. This mean, inartistic, dirty place certainly suggests
moral depravity.]
[Footnote 631: His real name was Sahajananda.]
[Footnote 632: Caran Das (1703-1782) founded a somewhat similar sect
which professed to abolish idolatry and laid great stress on ethics.
See Grierson's article Caran Das in _E.R.E._]
[Footnote 633: But Vishnuite writers distinguish _kama_ desire and
_prema_ love, just as [Greek: _eros_] and [Greek: _haghape_] are
distinguished in Greek. See Dinesh Chandra Sen, _l.c._ p. 485.]
[Footnote 634: Dinesh Chandra Sen, _History of Bengali Language and
Literature_, pp. 134-5.]
[Footnote 635: For Caitanya see Dinesh Chandra Sen, _History of
Bengali Language and Lit._ chap. V. and Jadunath Sarkar, _Chaitanya's
Pilgrimages and teachings from the Caitanya-Caritamrita_ of Krishna
Das (1590) founded on the earlier Caitanya-Caritra of Brindavan.
Several of Caitanya's followers were also voluminous writers.]
[Footnote 636: He married the daughter of a certain Vallabha who
apparently was not the founder of the Sect, as is often stated.]
[Footnote 637: The theology of the sect may be studied in Baladeva's
commentary on the Vedanta sutras and his Prameya Ratnavali, both
contained in vol. V. of the _Sacred Books of the Hindus_. It would
appear that the sect regards itself as a continuation of the
Brahma-sampradaya but its tenets have more resemblance to those of
Vallabha.]
[Footnote 638: No less than 159 padakartas or religious poets are
enumerated by Dinesh Chandra Sen. Several collections of these poems
have been published of which the principal is called Padakalpataru.]
[Footnote 639: See Bhandarkar, _Vaishn. and Saivism_, pp. 87-90, and
Nicol, _Psalms of Maratha Saints_ which gives a bibliography. For
Namdev see also Macauliffe, _The Sikh Religion_, vol. VI. pp. 17-76.
For Ramdas see Rawlinson, _Sivaji the Maratha_, pp. 116 ff.]
[Footnote 640: Bhandarkar, _l.c._ p. 92. An earlier poet of this country
was Jnanesvara who wrote a paraphrase of the Bhagavad-gita in 1290.
His writings are said to be the first great landmark in Marathi
literature.]
[Footnote 641: There is no necessary hostility between the worship of
Siva and of Vishnu. At Pandharpur pilgrims visit first a temple of
Siva and then the principal shrine. This latter, like the temple of
Jagannath at Puri, is suspected of having been a Buddhist shrine. It
is called Vihara, the principal festival is in the Buddhist Lent and
caste is not observed within its precincts.]
[Footnote 642: Quoted by Bhandarkar, p. 90. The subsequent quotations
are from the same source but I have sometimes slightly modified them
and compared them with the original, though I have no pretension to be
a Marathi scholar.]
[Footnote 643: Called Abhangs.]
[Footnote 644: See Eliot, Hinduism in Assam, _J.R.A.S._ 1910, pp.
1168-1186.]
[Footnote 645: _Census of India_, 1911, Assam, p. 41.]
[Footnote 646: Some authorities state that the sacred book thus
venerated is the Bhagavad-gita, but at Kamalabari I made careful
enquiries and was assured it was the Namghosha.]
[Footnote 647: Especially Gadadhar Singh, 1681-96.]
[Footnote 648: See _Census of India_, 1901, Bengal, pp. 183-4 and
Bhattacharya, _Hindu Castes and Sects_, pp. 485-488.]
[Footnote 649: Karta, literally doer, is the name given to the
executive head of a joint family in Bengal. The sect prefer to call
themselves Bhabajanas or Bhagawanis.]
[Footnote 650: Another mixed sect is that of the Dhamis in the Panna
state of Bundelkhand, founded by one Prannath in the reign of
Aurungzeb. Their doctrine is a combination of Hinduism and Islam,
tending towards Krishnaism. See Russell, _Tribes and Castes of Central
Provinces_, p. 217.]
CHAPTER XXXI
AMALGAMATION OF HINDUISM AND ISLAM. KABIR AND THE SIKHS
1
The Kartabhajas mentioned at the end of the last chapter show a
mixture of Hinduism and Mohammedanism, and the mixture[651] is found
in other sects some of which are of considerable importance. A group
of these sects, including the Sikhs and followers of Kabir, arose in
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Their origin can be traced to
Ramanand but they cannot be called Vaishnavas and they are clearly
distinguished from all the religious bodies that we have hitherto
passed in review. The tone of their writings is more restrained and
severe: the worshipper approaches the deity as a servant rather than a
lover: caste is rejected as useless: Hindu mythology is eschewed or
used sparingly. Yet in spite of these differences the essential
doctrines of Tulsi Das, Kabir and Nanak show a great resemblance. They
all believe in one deity whom they call by various names, but this
deity, though personal, remains of the Indian not of the Semitic type.
He somehow brings the world of transmigration into being by his power
of illusion, and the business of the soul is to free itself from the
illusion and return to him. Almost all these teachers, whether
orthodox or heterodox, had a singular facility for composing hymns,
often of high literary merit, and it is in these emotional utterances,
rather than in dogmatic treatises, that they addressed themselves to
the peoples of northern India.
The earliest of these mixed sects is that founded by Kabir.[652] He
appears to have been a Mohammedan weaver by birth, though tradition is
not unanimous on this point.[653] It is admitted, however, that he was
brought up among Moslims at Benares but became a disciple of Ramanand.
This suggests that he lived early in the fifteenth century.[654]
Another tradition says that he was summoned before Sikander Lodi
(1489-1517), but the details of his life are evidently legendary. We
only know that he was married and had a son, that he taught in
northern and perhaps central India and died at Maghar in the district
of Gorakhpur. There is significance, however, in the legend which
relates that after his decease Hindus and Mohammedans disputed as to
whether his body should be burned or buried. But when they raised the
cloth which covered the corpse, they found underneath it only a heap
of flowers. So the Hindus took part and burnt them at Benares and the
Moslims buried the rest at Maghar. His grave there is still in Moslim
keeping.
In teaching Kabir stands midway between the two religions, but leaning
to the side of Hinduism. It is clear that this Hindu bias became
stronger in his followers, but it is not easy to separate his own
teaching from subsequent embellishments, for the numerous hymns and
sayings attributed to him are collected in compilations made after his
death, such as the Bijak and the Adi-granth of the Sikhs. In hymns
which sound authentic he puts Hindus and Moslims on the same footing.
"Kabir is a child of Ram and Allah," he says, "and accepteth all Gurus
and Pirs." "O God, whether Allah or Ram, I live by thy name."
"Make thy mind thy Kaaba, thy body its enclosing temple,
Conscience its prime teacher.
Then, O priest, call men to pray to that mosque
Which hath five gates.
The Hindus and Mussulmans have the same Lord."
But the formalities of both creeds are impartially condemned. "They
are good riders who keep aloof from the Veda and Koran."[655] Caste,
circumcision and idolatry are reprobated. The Hindu deities and their
incarnations are all dead: God was not in any of them.[656] Ram, it
would seem, should be understood not as Ramacandra but as a name of
God.
Yet the general outlook is Hindu rather than Mohammedan. God is the
magician who brings about this illusory world in which the soul
wanders.[657] "I was in immobile and mobile creatures, in worms and in
moths; I passed through many various births. But when I assumed a
human body, I was a Yogi, a Yati, a penitent, a Brahmacari: sometimes
an Emperor and sometimes a beggar." Unlike the Sikhs, Kabir teaches
the sanctity of life, even of plants. "Thou cuttest leaves, O flower
girl: in every leaf there is life." Release, as for all Hindus,
consists in escaping from the round of births and deaths. Of this he
speaks almost in the language of the Buddha.[658]
"Though I have assumed many shapes, this is my last.
The strings and wires of the musical instrument are all worn out:
I am now in the power of God's name.
I shall not again have to dance to the tune of birth and death.
Nor shall my heart accompany on the drum."
This deliverance is accomplished by the union or identification of the
soul with God.
"Remove the difference between thyself and God and thou shalt be
united with him....
Him whom I sought without me, now I find within me....
Know God: by knowing him thou shalt become as he.
When the soul and God are blended no one can distinguish them."[659]
But if he sometimes writes like Sankara, he also has the note of the
Psalms and Gospels. He has the sense of sin: he thinks of God in vivid
personal metaphors, as a lord, a bridegroom, a parent, both father and
mother.
"Save me, O God, though I have offended thee....
I forgot him who made me and did cleave unto strangers."
"Sing, sing, the marriage song.
The sovereign God hath come to my house as my husband....
I obtained God as my bridegroom; so great has been my good
fortune."
"A mother beareth not in mind
All the faults her son committeth.
O, God, I am thy child:
Why blottest thou not out my sins?" ...
"My Father is the great Lord of the Earth;
To that Father how shall I go?"[660]
The writings of Kabir's disciples such as the Sukh Nidhan attributed
to Srut Gopal (and written according to Westcott about 1729) and the
still later Amar Mul, which is said to be representative of the modern
Kabirpanth, show a greater inclination to Pantheism, though caste and
idolatry are still condemned. In these works, which relate the
conversion of Dharm Das afterwards one of Kabir's principal followers,
Kabir is identified with the Creator and then made a pantheistic deity
much as Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita.[661] He is also the true Guru
whose help is necessary for salvation. Stress is further laid on the
doctrine of Sabda, or the divine word. Hindu theology was familiar
with this expression as signifying the eternal self-existent
revelation contained in the Vedas. Kabir appears to have held that
articulate sound is an expression of the Deity and that every letter,
as a constituent of such sound, has a meaning. But these letters are
due to Maya: in reality there is no plurality of sound. Ram seems to
have been selected as the divine name, because its brevity is an
approach to this unity, but true knowledge is to understand the
Letterless One, that is the real name or essence of God from which all
differentiation of letters has vanished. Apart from some special
metaphors the whole doctrine set forth in the Sukh Nidhan and Amar
Mul is little more than a loose Vedantism, somewhat reminiscent of
Sufiism.[662]
The teaching of Kabir is known as the Kabirpanth. At present there are
both Hindus and Mohammedans among his followers and both have
monasteries at Maghar where he is buried. The sect numbers in all
about a million.[663] It is said that the two divisions have little in
common except veneration of Kabir and do not intermix, but they both
observe the practice of partaking of sacred meals, holy water,[664]
and consecrated betel nut. The Hindu section is again divided into two
branches known as Father (Bap) and Mother (Mai).
Though there is not much that is original in the doctrines of Kabir,
he is a considerable figure in Hindi literature and may justly be
called epoch-making as marking the first fusion of Hinduism and Islam
which culminates and attains political importance in the Sikhs. Other
offshoots of his teaching are the Satnamis, Radha-swamis and
Dadupanthis. The first were founded or reorganized in 1750 by a
certain Jag-jivan-das. They do not observe caste and in theory adore
only the True Name of God but in practice admit ordinary Hindu
worship. The Radha-swamis, founded in 1861, profess a combination of
the Kabirpanth with Christian ideas. The Dadupanthis show the
influence of the military spirit of Islam. They were founded by Dadu,
a cotton weaver of Ahmedabad who flourished in Akbar's reign and died
about 1603. He insisted on the equality of mankind, vegetarianism,
abstinence from alcohol and strict celibacy. Hence the sect is
recruited by adopting boys, most of whom are trained as soldiers. In
such conditions the Dadupanthis cannot increase greatly but they
number about nine thousand and are found chiefly in the state of
Jaipur, especially in the town of Naraina.[665]
2
The Sikh religion[666] is of special interest since it has created not
only a political society but also customs so distinctive that those
who profess it rank in common esteem as a separate race. The founder
Nanak lived from 1469 to 1538 and was born near Lahore. He was a Hindu
by birth but came under Mohammedan influence and conceived the idea of
reconciling the two faiths. He was attracted by the doctrines of Kabir
and did not at first claim to teach a new religion. He wished to unite
Hindus and Moslims and described himself simply as Guru or teacher and
his adherents as Sikhs or disciples.
He spent the greater part of his life wandering about India and is
said to have reached Mecca. A beautiful story relates that he fell
asleep with his feet turned towards the Kaaba. A mollah kicked him and
asked how he dared to turn his feet and not his head towards God. But
he answered, "Turn my feet in a direction where God is not." He was
attended on his wanderings by Mardana, a lute-player, who accompanied
the hymns which he never failed to compose when a thought or adventure
occurred to him. These compositions are similar to those of Kabir, but
seem to me of inferior merit. They are diffuse and inordinately long;
the Japji for instance, which every Sikh ought to recite as his daily
prayer, fills not less than twenty octavo pages. Yet beautiful and
incisive passages are not wanting. When at the temple of Jagannath, he
was asked to take part in the evening worship at which lights were
waved before the god while flowers and incense were presented on
golden salvers studded with pearls. But he burst out into song.[667]
"The sun and moon, O Lord, are thy lamps, the firmament
thy salver and the orbs of the stars the pearls set therein.
"The perfume of the sandal tree is thy incense; the wind is
thy fan; all the forests are thy flowers, O Lord of light."
Though Nanak is full of Hindu allusions he is more Mohammedan in tone
than Kabir, and the ritual of Sikh temples is modelled on the
Mohammedan rather than on the Hindu pattern. The opening words of the
Japji are: "There is but one God, whose name is true, the
Creator"[668] and he is regarded rather as the ruler of the world than
as a spirit finding expression in it. "By his order" all things
happen. "By obeying him" man obtains happiness and salvation. "There
is no limit to his mercy and his praises." In the presence of God "man
has no power and no strength." Such sentiments have a smack of
Mohammed and Nanak sometimes uses the very words of the Koran as when
he says that God has no companion. And though the penetrating spirit
of the Vedanta infects this regal monotheism, yet the doctrine of Maya
is set forth in unusual phraseology: "God himself created the world
and himself gave names to things. He made Maya by his power: seated,
he beheld his work with delight."
In other compositions attributed to Nanak greater prominence is given
to Maya and to the common Hindu idea that creation is a self-expansion
of the deity. Metempsychosis is taught and the divine name is Hari.
This is characteristic of the age, for Nanak was nearly a contemporary
of Caitanya and Vallabhacarya. For Kabir, the disciple of Ramananda,
the name was Ram.
Nanak was sufficiently conscious of his position as head of a sect to
leave a successor as Guru,[669] but there is no indication that at
this time the Sikhs differed materially from many other religious
bodies who reprobated caste and idolatry. Under the fourth Guru, Ram
Das, the beginnings of a change appear. His strong personality
collected many wealthy adherents and with their offerings he purchased
the tank of Amritsar[670] and built in its midst the celebrated Golden
Temple. He appointed his son Arjun as Guru in 1581, just before his
death: the succession was made hereditary and henceforth the Gurus
became chiefs rather than spiritual teachers. Arjun assumed some of
the insignia of royalty: a town grew up round the sacred tank and
became the centre of a community; a tax was collected from all Sikhs
and they were subjected to special and often salutary legislation.
Infanticide, for instance, was strictly forbidden. With a view of
providing a code and standard Arjun compiled the Granth or Sikh
scriptures, for though hymns and prayers composed by Nanak and others
were in use there was as yet no authorized collection of them. The
example of Mohammedanism no doubt stimulated the desire to possess a
sacred book and the veneration of the scriptures increased with time.
The Granth now receives the same kind of respect as the Koran and the
first sight of a Sikh temple with a large open volume on a
reading-desk cannot fail to recall a mosque.
Arjun's compilation is called the Adi-granth, or original book, to
distinguish it from the later additions made by Guru Govind. It
comprises hymns and prayers by Nanak and the four Gurus who followed
him (including Arjun himself), Ramanand, Kabir and others, amounting
to thirty-five writers in all. The list is interesting as testifying
to the existence of a great body of oral poetry by various authors
ranging from Ramanand, who had not separated himself from orthodox
Vishnuism, to Arjun, the chief of the Sikh national community. It was
evidently felt that all these men had one inspiration coming from one
truth and even now unwritten poems of Nanak are current in Bihar. The
Granth is written in a special alphabet known as Gurmukhi[671] and
contains both prose and poetical pieces in several languages: most are
in old western Hindi[672] but some are in Panjabi and Marathi.
But though in compiling a sacred book and in uniting the temporal and
spiritual power Arjun was influenced by the spirit of Mohammedanism,
this is not the sort of imitation which makes for peace. The
combination of Hinduism and Islam resulted in the production of a
special type of Hindu peculiarly distasteful to Moslims and not much
loved by other Hindus. Much of Arjun's activity took place in the
later years of the Emperor Akbar. This most philosophic and tolerant
of princes abandoned Mohammedanism after 1579, remitted the special
taxes payable by non-Moslims and adopted many Hindu observances.
Towards the end of his life he promulgated a new creed known as the
Din-i-ilahi or divine faith. This eclectic and composite religion
bears testimony to his vanity as well as to his large sympathies, for
it recognized him as the viceregent or even an incarnation of God. It
would appear that the singular little work called the Allopanishad or
Allah Upanishad[673] was written in connection with this movement. It
purports to be an Upanishad of the Atharva Veda and can hardly be
described as other than a forgery. It declares that "the Allah of the
prophet Muhammad Akbar[674] is the God of Gods" and identifies him
with Mitra, Varuna, the sun, moon, water, Indra, etc. Akbar's
religion did not long survive his death and never flourished far from
the imperial court, but somewhat later (1656) Muhammad Dara Shukoh,
the son of Shah Jehan, caused a Persian translation of about fifty
Upanishads, known as the Oupnekhat,[675] to be prepared. The general
temper of the period was propitious to the growth and immunity of
mixed forms of belief, but the warlike and semi-political character of
the Sikh community brought trouble on it.
Arjun attracted the unfavourable attention of Akbar's successor,
Jehangir,[676] and was cast into prison where he died. The Sikhs took
up arms and henceforth regarded themselves as the enemies of the
government, but their strength was wasted by internal dissensions. The
ninth Guru, Teg-Bahadur, was executed by Aurungzeb. Desire to avenge
this martyrdom and the strenuous character of the tenth Guru, Govind
Singh (1675-1708), completed the transformation of the Sikhs into a
church militant devoted to a holy war.
Though the most aggressive and uncompromising features of Sikhism are
due to the innovations of Govind, he was so far from being a
theological bigot that he worshipped Durga and was even said to have
offered human sacrifices. But the aim of all his ordinances was to
make his followers an independent body of fighting men. They were to
return the salutation of no Hindu and to put to death every
Mohammedan. The community was called Khalsa:[677] within it there was
perfect equality: every man was to carry a sword and wear long hair
but short trousers. Converts, or recruits, came chiefly from the
fighting tribes of the Jats, but in theory admission was free. The
initiatory ceremony, which resembled baptism, was performed with sugar
and water stirred with a sword, and the neophyte vowed not to worship
idols, to bow to none except a Sikh Guru, and never to turn his back
on the enemy. To give these institutions better religious sanction,
Govind composed a supplement to the Granth, called Dasama Padshah ka
Granth or book of the tenth prince. It consists of four parts, all in
verse, and is said to inculcate war as persistently as Nanak had
inculcated meekness and peace. To give his institutions greater
permanence and prevent future alterations Govind refused to appoint
any human successor and bade the Sikhs consider the Granth as their
Guru. "Whatsoever ye shall ask of it, it will show you" he said, and
in obedience to his command the book is still invested with a kind of
personality and known as Granth Sahib.
Govind spent most of his time in wars with Aurungzeb marked by
indomitable perseverance rather than success. Towards the end of his
life he retired into Malwa and resided at a place called Damdama. The
accounts of his latter days are somewhat divergent. According to one
story he made his peace with the Mughals and accepted a military
command under the successor of Aurungzeb but it is more commonly
asserted that he was assassinated by a private enemy. Even more
troublous were the days of his successor Banda. Since Govind had
abolished the Guruship, he could not claim to be more than a temporal
chief, but what he lacked in spiritual authority he made amends for in
fanaticism. The eight years of his leadership were spent in a war of
mutual extermination waged with the Moslims of the Panjab and
diversified only by internal dissensions. At last he was captured and
the sect was nearly annihilated by the Emperor Farukhsiyar. According
to the ordinary account this victory was followed by an orgy of
torture and Banda was barbarously executed after witnessing during
seven days the torments of his followers and kinsmen. We read with
pleasure but incredulity that one division of the Sikhs believe that
he escaped and promulgated his peculiar doctrines in Sind. Asiatics do
not relish the idea that the chosen of God can suffer violent death.
The further history of the Sikhs is political rather than religious,
and need not detain us here. Despite the efforts of the Mughals to
exterminate them, they were favoured by the disturbed state of the
country in the early decades of the eighteenth century, for the raids
of Afghans and Persians convulsed and paralyzed the empire of Delhi.
The government of the Khalsa passed into the hands of a body of
fanatics, called Akalis, but the decision of grave matters rested with
a council of the whole community which occasionally met at Amritsar.
Every Sikh claimed to have joined the confederacy as an independent
soldier, bound to fight under his military leaders but otherwise
exempt from control, and entitled to a share of land. This absolute
independence, being unworkable in practice, was modified by the
formation of Misals or voluntary associations, of which there were at
one time twelve. From the middle of the eighteenth century onwards the
Sikhs were masters of the Panjab and their great chief Ranjit Singh
(1797-1839) succeeded in converting the confederacy into a despotic
monarchy. Their power did not last long after his death and the Panjab
was conquered by the British in the two wars of 1846 and 1849.
With the loss of political independence, the differences between the
Sikhs and other Hindus tended to decrease. This was natural, for
nearly all their strictly religious tenets can be paralleled in
Hinduism. Guru Govind waged no war against polytheism but wished to
found a religious commonwealth equally independent of Hindu castes and
Mohammedan sultans. For some time his ordinances were successful in
creating a tribe, almost a nation. With the collapse of the Sikh
state, the old hatred of Mohammedanism remained, but the Sikhs
differed from normal Hindus hardly more than such sects as the
Lingayats, and, as happened with decadent Buddhism, the unobtrusive
pressure of Hindu beliefs and observances tended to obliterate those
differences. The Census of India,[678] 1901, enumerated three degrees
of Sikhism. The first comprises a few zealots called Akalis who
observe all the precepts of Govind. The second class are the Guru
Govind Sikhs, who observe the Guru's main commands, especially the
prohibition to smoke and cut the hair. Lastly, there are a
considerable number who profess a respect for the Guru but follow
Hindu beliefs and usages wholly or in part. Sikhism indeed reproduces
on a small scale the changeableness and complexity of Hinduism, and
includes associations called Sabha, whose members aim at restoring or
maintaining what they consider to be the true faith. In 1901 there was
a tendency for Sikhs to give up their peculiarities and describe
themselves as ordinary Hindus, but in the next decade a change of
sentiment among these waverers caused the Sikh community as registered
to increase by thirty-seven per cent. and a period of religious zeal
is reported.[679]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 651: It is exemplified by the curious word an-had
_limitless_, being the Indian negative prefix added to the arabic word
_had_ used in the Sikh Granth and by Caran Das as a name of God.]
[Footnote 652: See especially G.H. Westcott, _Kabir and the Kabir
Panth_, and Macauliffe, _Sikh Religion_, vol. vi. pp. 122-316. Also
Wilson, _Essays on the religion of the Hindus_, vol. I. pp. 68-98.
Garcin de Tassy, _Histoire de la Litterature Hindoue_, II. pp.
120-134. Bhandarkar, _Vaishn. and Saivism_, pp. 67-73.]
[Footnote 653: The name Kabir seems to me decisive.]
[Footnote 654: Dadu who died about 1603 is said to have been fifth in
spiritual descent from Kabir.]
[Footnote 655: From a hymn in which the spiritual life is represented
as a ride. Macauliffe, VI. p. 156.]
[Footnote 656: But Hari is sometimes used by Kabir, especially in the
hymns incorporated in the Granth, as a name of God.]
[Footnote 657: Though Kabir writes as a poet rather than as a
philosopher he evidently leaned to the doctrine of illusion
(_vivartavada_) rather than to the doctrine of manifestation or
development (_Parinamavada_). He regards Maya as something evil, a
trick, a thief, a force which leads men captive, but which disappears
with the knowledge of God. "The illusion vanished when I recognized
him" (XXXIX.).]
[Footnote 658: He even uses the word nirvana.]
[Footnote 659: From Kabir's acrostic. Macauliffe, VI. pp. 186 and 188.
It is possible that this is a later composition.]
[Footnote 660: Macauliffe, vi. pp. 230. 209, 202, 197.]
[Footnote 661: Westcott, _l.c._ p. 144, "I am the creator of this
world.... I am the seed and the tree ... all are contained in me--I live
within all and all live within me" and much to the same effect. Even
in the hymns of the Adi Granth we find such phrases as "Now thou and I
have become one." (Macauliffe, vi. p. 180.)
This identification of Kabir with the deity is interesting as being a
modern example of what probably happened in the case of Krishna.
Similarly those who collected the hymns which form the sacred books of
the Sikhs and Kabirpanthis repeated the process which in earlier ages
produced the Rig Veda.]
[Footnote 662: "The Atma mingles with Paramatma, as the rivers flow
into the ocean. Only in this way can Paramatma be found. The Atma
without Sabda is blind and cannot find the path. He who sees Atma-Ram
is present everywhere. All he sees is like himself. There is nought
except Brahma. I am he, I am the true Kabir." Westcott, p. 168.]
[Footnote 663: The Census of 1901 gives 843,171 but there is reason to
think the real numbers are larger.]
[Footnote 664: Consecrated by washing in it wooden sandals supposed to
represent the feet of Kabir. It is stated that they believe they eat
the body of Kabir at their sacred meal which perhaps points to
Christian influence. See Russell, _l.c._ pp. 239-240.]
[Footnote 665: See Russell, _Tribes and Castes of Central Provinces_,
p. 217, where it is said that some of them are householders.]
[Footnote 666: See especially Macauliffe, _The Sikh Religion_, six
volumes.]
[Footnote 667: Macauliffe, I. p. 82.]
[Footnote 668: The original is Karta purukh (=purusha), the creative
male. This phrase shows how Hindu habits of thought clung to Nanak.]
[Footnote 669: The Guru of the Sikhs are: (_a_) Nanak, 1469-1538,
(_b_) Angada, 1538-1552, (_c_) Amardas, 1552-1575, (_d_) Ramdas,
1575-1581, (_e_) Arjun, 1581-1606, (_f_) Har-Govind, 1606-1639, (_g_)
Har-Rai, 1639-1663, (_h_) Har-Kisan, 1663-1666, (_i_) Teg-Bahadur,
1666-1675, (_j_) Govind Singh, 1675-1708.]
[Footnote 670: Amritasaras the lake of nectar.]
[Footnote 671: It appears to be an arbitrary adaptation of the
Deva-nagari characters. The shape of the letters is mostly the same
but new values are assigned to them.]
[Footnote 672: This is the description of the dialect given by
Grierson, the highest authority in such matters.]
[Footnote 673: See Rajendrala Mitra's article in _J.A.S.B._ XL. 1871,
pp. 170-176, which gives the Sanskrit text of the Upanishad. Also
Schrader, _Catalogue of Adyar Library_, 1908, pp. 136-7. Schrader
states that in the north of India the Allopanishad is recited by
Brahmans at the Vasantotsava and on other occasions: also that in
southern India it is generally believed that Moslims are skilled in
the Atharva Veda.]
[Footnote 674: _I.e._, not the Allah of the Koran.]
[Footnote 675: This Persian translation was rendered word for word
into very strange Latin by Anquetil Duperron (1801-2) and this Latin
version was used by Schopenhauer.]
[Footnote 676: He is said to have prayed for the success of the
Emperor's rebellious son.]
[Footnote 677: This Arabic word is interpreted in this context as
meaning the special portion (of God).]
[Footnote 678: _Census of India_, 1901, Panjab report, p. 122.]
[Footnote 679: _Provincial Geographies of India_, Panjab, Douie, 1916,
p. 117.]
CHAPTER XXXII
SAKTISM[680]
Among the principal subdivisions of Hinduism must be reckoned the
remarkable religion known as Saktism, that is the worship of Sakti or
Siva's spouse under various names, of which Devi, Durga and Kali are
the best known. It differs from most sects in not being due to the
creative or reforming energy of any one human founder. It claims to be
a revelation from Siva himself, but considered historically it appears
to be a compound of Hinduism with un-Aryan beliefs. It acquired great
influence both in the courts and among the people of north-eastern
India but without producing personalities of much eminence as teachers
or writers.
It would be convenient to distinguish Saktism and Tantrism, as I have
already suggested. The former means the worship of a goddess or
goddesses, especially those who are regarded as forms of Siva's
consort. Vishnuites sometimes worship female deities, but though the
worship of Lakshmi, Radha and others may be coloured by imitation of
Saktist practices, it is less conspicuous and seems to have a
different origin. Tantrism is a system of magical or sacramental
ritual, which professes to attain the highest aims of religion by such
methods as spells, diagrams, gestures and other physical exercises.
One of its bases is the assumption that man and the universe
correspond as microcosm and macrocosm and that both are subject to the
mysterious power of words and letters.
These ideas are not modern nor peculiar to any Indian sect. They are
present in the Vedic ceremonial, in the practices of the Yoga and even
in the teaching of the quasi-mussulman sect of Kabir, which attaches
great importance to the letters of the divine name. They harmonize
with the common Indian view that some form of discipline or physical
training is essential to the religious life. They are found in a
highly developed form among the Nambuthiris and other Brahmans of
southern India who try to observe the Vedic rules and in the Far East
among Buddhists of the Shingon or Chen-yen sect.[681] As a rule they
receive the name of Tantrism only when they are elaborated into a
system which claims to be a special dispensation for this age and to
supersede more arduous methods which are politely set aside as
practicable only for the hero-saints of happier times. Tantrism, like
salvation by faith, is a simplification of religion but on mechanical
rather than emotional lines, though its deficiency in emotion often
finds strange compensations.
But Tantrism is analogous not so much to justification by faith as to
sacramental ritual. The parallel may seem shocking, but most tantric
ceremonies are similar in idea to Christian sacraments and may be
called sacramental as correctly as magical. Even in the Anglican
Church baptism includes sprinkling with water (abhisheka), the sign of
the cross (nyasa) and a formula (mantra), and if any one supposes that
a child so treated is sure of heaven whereas the future of the
unbaptized is dubious, he holds like the Tantrists that spiritual ends
can be attained by physical means. And in the Roman Church where the
rite includes exorcism and the use of salt, oil and lights, the
parallel is still closer. Christian mysticism has had much to do with
symbolism and even with alchemy,[682] and Zoroastrianism, which is
generally regarded as a reasonable religion, attaches extraordinary
importance to holy spells.[683] So Indian religions are not singular
in this respect, though the uncompromising thoroughness with which
they work out this like other ideas leads to startling results.
The worship of female deities becomes prominent somewhat late in
Indian literature and it does not represent--not to the same extent as
the Chinese cult of Kwan-yin for example--the better ideals of the
period when it appears. The goddesses of the Rig Veda are
insignificant: they are little more than names, and grammatically
often the feminine forms of their consorts. But this Veda is evidently
a special manual of prayer from which many departments of popular
religion were excluded. In the Atharva Veda many spirits with feminine
names are invoked and there is an inclination to personify bad
qualities and disasters as goddesses. But we do not find any goddess
who has attained a position comparable with that held by Durga, Cybele
or Astarte, though there are some remarkable hymns[684] addressed to
the Earth. But there is no doubt that the worship of goddesses
(especially goddesses of fertility) as great powers is both ancient
and widespread. We find it among the Egyptians and Semites, in Asia
Minor, in Greece, Italy, and among the Kelts. The goddess Anahit, who
was worshipped with immoral rites in Bactria, is figured on the coins
of the Kushans and must at one time have been known on the
north-western borders of India. At the present day Sitala and in south
India Mariamman are goddesses of smallpox who require propitiation,
and one of the earliest deities known to have been worshipped by the
Tamils is the goddess Kottavai.[685] Somewhat obscure but widely
worshipped are the powers known as the Mothers, a title which also
occurs in Keltic mythology. They are groups of goddesses varying in
number and often malevolent. As many as a hundred and forty are said
to be worshipped in Gujarat. The census of Bengal (1901) records the
worship of the earth, sun and rivers as females, of the snake
goddesses Manasa and Jagat Gauri and of numerous female demons who
send disease, such as the seven sisters, Ola Bibi, Jogini and the
Churels, or spirits of women who have died in childbirth.
The rites celebrated in honour of these deities are often of a
questionable character and include dances by naked women and offerings
of spirituous liquors and blood. Similar features are found in other
countries. Prostitution formed part of the worship of Astarte and
Anahit: the Tauric Artemis was adored with human sacrifices and Cybele
with self-inflicted mutilations. Similarly offerings of blood drawn
from the sacrificer's own body are enjoined in the Kalika Purana. Two
stages can be distinguished in the relations between these cults and
Hinduism. In the later stage which can be witnessed even at the
present day an aboriginal goddess or demon is identified with one of
the aspects (generally a "black" or fierce aspect) of Siva's
spouse.[686] But such identification is facilitated by the fact that
goddesses like Kali, Bhairavi, Chinnamastaka are not products of
purely Hindu imagination but represent earlier stages of amalgamation
in which Hindu and aboriginal ideas are already compounded. When the
smallpox goddess is identified with Kali, the procedure is correct,
for some popular forms of Kali are little more than an aboriginal
deity of pestilence draped with Hindu imagery and philosophy.
Some Hindu scholars demur to this derivation of Saktism from lower
cults. They point to its refined and philosophic aspects; they see in
it the worship of a goddess, who can be as merciful as the Madonna,
but yet, since she is the goddess of nature, combines in one shape
life and death. May not the grosser forms of Saktism be perversions
and corruptions of an ancient and higher faith? In support of this it
may be urged that the Buddhist goddess Tara is as a rule a beautiful
and benevolent figure, though she can be terrible as the enemy of evil
and has clear affinities to Durga. Yet the history of Indian thought
does not support this view, but rather the view that Hinduism
incorporated certain ancient ideas, true and striking as ancient ideas
often are, but without purging them sufficiently to make them
acceptable to the majority of educated Indians.
The Yajur Veda[687] associates Rudra with a female deity called Ambika
or mother, who is however his sister, not his spouse. The earliest
forms of the latter seem to connect her with mountains. She is Uma
Haimavati, the daughter of the Himalayas, and Parvati, she of the
mountains, and was perhaps originally a sacred peak. In an interesting
but brief passage of the Kena Upanishad (III. 12 and IV. 1) Uma
Haimavati explains to the gods that a being whom they do not know is
Brahman. In later times we hear of a similar goddess in the Vindhyas,
Maharani Vindhyesvari, who was connected with human sacrifices and
Thugs.[688] Siva's consort, like her Lord, has many forms classified
as white or benignant and black or terrible. Uma belongs to the former
class but the latter (such as Kali, Durga, Camunda, Canda and Karala)
are more important.[689] Female deities bearing names like these are
worshipped in most parts of India, literally from the Himalaya to Cape
Comorin, for the latter name is derived from Kumari, the Virgin
goddess.[690] But the names Sakta and Saktism are usually restricted to
those sects in Bengal and Assam who worship the Consort of Siva with
the rites prescribed in the Tantras.
Saktism regards the goddess as the active manifestation of the
godhead. As such she is styled Sakti, or energy (whence the name
Sakta), and is also identified with Maya, the power which is
associated with Brahman and brings the phenomenal world into being.
Similar ideas appear in a philosophic form in the Sankhya teaching.
Here the soul is masculine and passive: its task is to extricate and
isolate itself. But Prakriti or Nature is feminine and active: to her
is due the evolution of the universe: she involves the soul in actions
which cause pain but she also helps the work of liberation.[691] In
its fully developed form the doctrine of the Tantras teaches that
Sakti is not an emanation or aspect of the deity. There is no
distinction between Brahman and Sakti. She is Parabrahman and
_paratpara_, Supreme of the Supreme.
The birthplace of Saktism as a definite sect seems to have been
north-eastern India[692] and though it is said to be extending in the
United Provinces, its present sphere of influence is still chiefly
Bengal and Assam.[693] The population of these countries is not Aryan
(though the Bengali language bears witness to the strong Aryan
influence which has prevailed there) and is largely composed of
immigrants from the north belonging to the Tibeto-Burman, Mon-Khmer
and Shan families. These tribes remain distinct in Assam but the
Bengali represents the fusion of such invaders with a Munda or
Dravidian race, leavened by a little Aryan blood in the higher castes.
In all this region we hear of no ancient Brahmanic settlements, no
ancient centres of Vedic or even Puranic learning[694] and when
Buddhism decayed no body of Brahmanic tradition such as existed in
other parts of India imposed its authority on the writers of the
Tantras. Even at the present day the worship of female spirits, only
half acknowledged by the Brahmans, prevails among these people, and in
the past the national deities of many tribes were goddesses who were
propitiated with human sacrifices. Thus the Chutiyas of Sadiya used to
adore a goddess, called Kesai Khati--the eater of raw flesh. The rites
of these deities were originally performed by tribal priests, but as
Hindu influence spread, the Brahmans gradually took charge of them
without modifying their character in essentials. Popular Bengali
poetry represents these goddesses as desiring worship and feeling
that they are slighted: they persecute those who ignore them, but
shower blessings on their worshippers, even on the obdurate who are at
last compelled to do them homage. The language of mythology could not
describe more clearly the endeavours of a plebeian cult to obtain
recognition.[695]
The Mahabharata contains hymns to Durga in which she is said to love
offerings of flesh and wine,[696] but it is not likely that Saktism or
Tantrism--that is a system with special scriptures and doctrines--was
prevalent before the seventh century A.D. for the Tantras are not
mentioned by the Chinese pilgrims and the lexicon _Amara Kosha_
(perhaps _c_. 500 A.D.) does not recognize the word as a designation
of religious books. Bana (_c_. 630) gives more than once in his
romances lists of sectaries but though he mentions Bhagavatas and
Pasupatas, he does not speak of Saktas.[697] On the other hand
Tantrism infected Buddhism soon after this period. The earlier Tibetan
translations of the Tantras are attributed to the ninth century. MSS.
of the Kubjikamata and other Tantras are said to date from the ninth
and even from the seventh century and tradition represents
Sankaracarya as having contests with Saktas.[698] But many Tantras
were written in the fifteenth century and even later, for the Yogini
Tantra alludes to the Koch king Bishwa Singh (1515-1540) and the Meru
Tantra mentions London and the English.
From the twelfth to the sixteenth century, when Buddhism, itself
deeply infected with Tantrism, was disappearing, Saktism was probably
the most powerful religion in Bengal, but Vishnuism was gaining
strength and after the time of Caitanya proved a formidable rival to
it. At the beginning of the fifteenth century we hear that the king of
the Ahoms summoned Brahmans to his Court and adopted many Hindu rites
and beliefs, and from this time onward Saktism was patronized by most
of the Assamese Rajas although after 1550 Vishnuism became the
religion of the mass of the people. Saktism never inspired any popular
or missionary movement, but it was powerful among the aristocracy and
instigated persecutions against the Vishnuites.
The more respectable Tantras[699] show considerable resemblance to the
later Upanishads such as the Nrisinhatapaniya and Ramata-paniya,
which mention Sakti in the sense of creative energy.[700] Both classes
of works treat of magical formulae (mantras) and the construction of
mystic diagrams or yantras. This resemblance does not give us much
assistance in chronology, for the dates of the later Upanishads are
very uncertain, but it shows how the Tantras are connected with other
branches of Hindu thought.
The distinction between Tantras and Puranas is not always
well-marked. The Bhagavata Purana countenances tantric rites[701] and
the Agni Purana (from chapter XXI onwards) bears a strong resemblance
to a Tantra. As a rule the Tantras contain less historical and
legendary matter than the Puranas and more directions as to ritual.
But whereas the Puranas approve of both Vedic rites and others, the
Tantras insist that ceremonies other than those which they prescribe
are now useless. They maintain that each age of the world has its own
special revelation and that in this age the Tantra-sastra is the only
scripture. Thus in the Mahanirvana Tantra Siva says:[702] "The fool
who would follow other doctrines heedless of mine is as great a sinner
as a parricide or the murderer of a Brahman or of a woman.... The
Vedic rites and mantras which were efficacious in the first age have
ceased to have power in this. They are now as powerless as snakes
whose fangs have been drawn and are like dead things." The Kularnava
Tantra (I. 79 ff.) inveighs against those who think they will obtain
salvation by Vedic sacrifices or asceticism or reading sacred books,
whereas it can be won only by tantric rites.
Various lists of Tantras are given and it is generally admitted that
many have been lost. The most complete, but somewhat theoretical
enumeration[703] divides India and the adjoining lands into three
regions to each of which sixty-four Tantras are assigned. The best
known names are perhaps Mahanirvana,[704] Saradatilaka,[705] Yogini,
Kularnava[706] and Rudra-Yamala. A Tantra is generally cast in the
form of a dialogue in which Siva instructs his consort but sometimes
_vice versa_. It is said that the former class are correctly described
as Agamas and the works where the Sakti addresses Siva as
Nigamas.[707] Some are also called Yamalas and Damaras but I have
found no definition of the meaning of these words. The Prapancasara
Tantra[708] professes to be a revelation from Narayana.